An officer for my company came to Korea last week for some meetings. We were hanging out afterwads, and we started talking about the difference between Tokyo and Seoul. He mentioned that Tokyo is a great city, but Seoul has great people…

The more I thought about it, and the more I hang out in Seoul, the more I think he hit the nail on the head. Tokyo has restaurants, markets, museums, shops, (and did i mention restaurants?) that blow your mind. Many is the weekend where I pick a random stop on the Yamanote line and just walk around. There is a magazine that is geared toward doing just that, named “Tokyo Walker“, oddly enough.

Seoul. People in Seoul aren`t so concerned about the restaurants where they have dinner. They don`t care about using their cellphones on the train (strictly verbotten in Tokyo). The entire population here seems like ot buys shirts from KMart– but that`s okay, because it`s _everyone_, so no one really sticks out as underdressed. Just yesterday I bought 4 shirts on the street for $5 each– these aren`t Ralph Lauren, but their pretty close to Van Heusen (gaach, did I just write that?)

Next week I`ll be in Tokyo. It will be good to be home. When I get back to Seoul, it will be good to be here again too.

Jiggety Jig.

Don`t get me wrong, I like Korea, but it isn`t “home”. I get strange responses when I tell this to my friends here in Toyko, because they assume that home is Washington, or Utah, or London– but that is the whole point.

I`ve moved enough lately (okay, always) that the concept of home has become where I happen to be for more than two months straight. I took a big step when I got to Tokyo and bought a sofa and a bed. Heh, permanence. I know the barber, the gyoza shop down the street, the kid at the convenience store. I`ve spent nights walking around the neighborhood, getting off the train one stop too soon just to see what was there. I know what my apt. smells like (nice smell, don`t worry).

Will Seoul become home? Right now I don`t think so, but check back in 4 months…